Allow me to paint you a picture. When I walked in the 1st floor bathroom of the notorious Paddyfote B Building, the floor was soaked with sewage, the strong smell of urine corrupted the air, and roaches were crawling the sinks and walls.
I deal with this experience often as I make my late night bathroom visits. Along the way to the bathroom I can take a look at the graffiti filled window in the hallway.
If I choose to walk up to visit one of my friends on the 4th floor, I am subjected to the smell of feces as well as having to step over garbage bags and endure unbearable heat from a broken heating system.
After speaking with many fellow Rattlers, I felt that I needed to expose some of the atrocities of FAMU’s housing. With the exception of the Palmetto North, South and Phase III dorms, FAMU is definitely failing to provide quality housing for its hard-working students.
Ultimately, FAMU needs to renovate all dorms. The availability of funding may not permit immediate action but it needs to happen soon.
Students’ college experiences are greatly affected by the quality of their living conditions. Also, a better environment to live and study in could lead to better grades for students.
Although the facilities may be sub-par, the treatment of the dorms by students should be greatly improved. Students simply need to take care of the dorms. A quick flush of the toilet or just taking out your own garbage can save the entire dorm population a lot of frustration and disgust. People in college are adults, and should exhibit some home training and maturity by taking care of the dorms.
And this may sound harsh, but Paddyfote should be torn down and a new dorm should be built in its place. As a survivor of Paddyfote I was personally disturbed by some of the things I have seen in that dorm. No freshman, or human being in general, deserves to live in the infamous Paddyfote complex. This article was not written to complain, but rather to inspire some positive change.
Jeff Wright is a freshman business administration student from Chicago. Contact him at Jeffreywright85@hotmail.com